Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Sells 5,388 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ reduced its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.3%, owning 119,625 shares which were valued at $65.35 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Several analysts upgraded their ratings for Goldman Sachs, with Zacks Research increasing it to a "strong-buy" rating and Citigroup raising the price target from $550 to $700.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, representing a dividend yield of 2.1% and a payout ratio of 26.44%.

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ trimmed its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,625 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 5,388 shares during the quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $65,350,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GS. King Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,211,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the first quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS traded down $5.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $745.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,466,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,588,065. The company has a market cap of $225.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $716.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $623.82. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $753.33.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.